Golfer

A renowned professional golfer, Calvin Peete made history by winning 12 major PGA (Professional Golf Association) tournaments between 1979 and 1986. One of the most prolific winners and one of the straightest hitters on the PGA Tour in the 1980s, Peete won the PGA’s driving accuracy title for ten consecutive years (1981-1990). Before the emergence of Tiger Woods, Peete was the most successful African American on the PGA Tour.

Born in Detroit, Michigan on July 18, 1943, Peete was the eighth of nine children born to Irenna (Bridgeford) Peete and Dennis Peete, a Detroit auto factory worker. He was raised in Detroit, Hayti, Missouri, and on a farm in Pahokee, Florida.

At age 12, Peete fell from a cherry tree near his grandmother’s house in Haiti and broke his left elbow in three places. Surgeons repaired the fractures but the elbow joint remained permanently fused, so Peete could never fully straighten his arm. Some golf swing analysts believe that this condition contributed to Peete’s driving accuracy. It allowed him to create a golf swing path that brought him to return the club squarely from the back swing, back to the same position at impacting the ball. Peete was nicknamed “Mr. Accuracy” by other golfers for his ability to hit the ball consistently onto the fairway.

Peete lived in Florida during his teenage years and dropped out of school at age 15. For several years he supported himself by selling clothes, watches, jewelry, stereos and other wares to migrant farm workers up and down the east coast from areas like Florida to Rochester, New York. He first picked up a golf club in Rochester in 1966, at the “old age” of 23. Moving back to Florida, golf became Peete’s obsession, and he looked for driving ranges with floodlights so that he could practice at night. He also took a night job managing apartments in Fort Lauderdale so he would have more time for golf. In 1971, Peete became a professional golfer. In 1975, he completed the PGA Tour Qualifying School and his first PGA Tour victory came in 1979, winning the Greater Milwaukee Open. In 1982, he had four PGA Tour wins. He continued a winning streak with two wins in 1983, one in 1984, two in 1985, including the Tournament Players Championship, and two in 1986. Among the others were the Texas Open and the Phoenix Open. The Players Championship was his most coveted win and earned him the position of being the most successful African American golfer at that time. In 1982, Peete earned his high school equivalency so as to be eligible for a U.S. Ryder Cup Team position. He was a member of the U.S. Team in 1983 and 1985.

After 1986, Peete’s back and shoulder problems slowed him down although, he earned over $2.3 million on the PGA Tour through 1993. At age 51, Peete started competing on the Senior Tour and retired from golf in 2001.

Peete is the father of five children (Calvin, Jr., Dennis, Nicole, Kalvinetta, and Ricky) from his first marriage. They were born between 1968 and 1975. He married Elaine (Pepper) Peete in 1993; they are the parents of two daughters—Aisha, born in 1993 and Aleya, born in 1996.

Golfer Calvin Peete (1943 - 2015 ) won twelve major PGA tournaments between 1979 and 1986. He also won ten consecutive PGA driving accuracy titles between 1981 and 1990. Peete was the most successful African American pro golfer of his time.

Tape: 5 Story: 5 - Calvin Peete describes his hopes for the African American community

Tape: 5 Story: 6 - Calvin Peete reflects upon his life

Tape: 5 Story: 7 - Calvin Peete describes how he would like to be remembered

Tape: 5 Story: 8 - Calvin Peete reflects upon his legacy

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Calvin Peete recalls winning the Tournament Players Championship

Calvin Peete describes The First Tee golf program

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Nineteen eighty-five [1985], two big tournaments.$$Yeah.$$Tell us about those.$$Well, I tell you, man, winning the Tournament Players Championship [The Players Championship], it's got to be, you know, the epitome of all my wins, you know. Because, you know, going into Sunday's found, you know, and, as a matter fact, going into the tournament, I didn't think I had no chance to make the cut, let alone to be tied for the lead, you know, going into the last round. But I went to bed, you know, about 10:00, 10:30 that Saturday night; woke up about one, and just started thinking, you know, Calvin [HistoryMaker Calvin Peete], this might be your only chance to win what you might call a major championship. Got up, got dressed, got in my courtesy car and just drove up and down A1A [State Road A1A]; turned the rearview mirror, turned my s- interior light on, mirror to my face, and looked myself in the eyes, and trying to get my eyes on the road, say, you know what Calvin, when you at your best, they can't beat you. They can't beat you. And that was the attitude I went out with Sunday. Never had that kind of attitude before that said, they can't beat me. They cannot beat me. And by the time we made the turn, I had a four-shot lead (laughter).$$Over who? Who was (unclear)?$$D.A. Weibring was my closest rival.$$Who was that?$$D.A. Weibring. Yeah.$$Who else was playing in that tournament?$$Hale Irwin--well, every--all the best players played in it, but these were my playing par- partners. D.A. Weibring and Hale Irwin, we played together. We were all tied for the lead, eight under going into the last round, yeah.$And tell us, what is The First Tee, and how did that come about?$$Well, The First Tee is an organization that was put together, you know, through the PGA Tour [Professional Golfers' Association] to give more inner city and other underprivileged kids access to golf, you know, because that's something that we've been lacking, you know. And as you mentioned before, you know, most of the introduction that blacks had to golf was through the caddy links and, you know--the caddy ranks and, you know, the caddy is, you know, he's really an endangered species, you know. I mean, the carts, you know. Golf is a big revenue generating sport, you know, and they try to get as many people on the golf course as they want--or as they can, and the carts is just taking over, you know. So you know through The First Tee program, it's giving more of our black kids more access to golf, which is one of the greatest spor- character-building sports there is. And I just feel like, you know, every kid should at least be exposed to the game, whether you--wherever you want to take it. But just the exposure of it, you know (simultaneous).$$(Simultaneous) What moved the PGA to invest and sponsor The First Tee program? How did that--$$Well, I'd like to feel like that it was my concept, you know. Not my name but, you know, I was talking to our commissioner at that time, Deane Beman. As a matter of fact, we were right here at the TPC [Tournament Players Club, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida] on the practice tee, and I was expressing to him my feelings, you know, about, you know, how much, you know, of an asset golf could be to inner city kids--underprivileged kids and, you know, and going through my little song and dance about the character, and so forth and so on. And Deane say, "Well, Calvin [HistoryMaker Calvin Peete], let me tell you one thing." Say, "The only person that's going to help those kids is Tiger Woods." I say, "Now what kind of help could he give them (laughter)--is he going to give them some money or what?" I say, "Well, Deane, why do you think that?" "Well, I know, I feel like the kids are going to rally around him and so forth." I say, "But, you know, what do we do now, Deane? There's kids out there--you know, Tiger Woods might be five years away, you know, coming to the tour, you know." So we ended the conversation. I went through my little thing about, you know, (unclear) it's cheaper to put that kid on the golf course than to take care of him for twenty or thirty years of his life in prison, and that's coming out of our pockets also. So I left him with that, and maybe a couple of months later that's when I heard about The First Tee program. I said, well, maybe I did get to him (laughter).$$The First Tee was organized in what year then? When did the--how old is it?$$I really don't know. It was probably early '90s [sic. 1997] or something like that. I don't know the exact year.$$You know how many young people are being influenced by that program each year?$$Oh, thousands. Maybe hundreds, you know. We probably got four or five hundred kids in our program right here in Jacksonville [Florida]. And I think that, you know, there are programs that's got fifteen hundred, you know; two--almost two thousand kids, so. And out of--I don't know, 130, 140, you know, of First Tees around the country, you know, that's got those kind of (unclear) (simultaneous)--$$(Simultaneous) Yeah, there's one in Boston [Massachusetts], I know.$$Yeah. So that's--the numbers are big. Numbers are big.$$Yeah.

Professional golfer and educator Renee Powell is one of only three African American women to ever play on the Ladies Professional Golf Association's (LPGA) Tour. She is the daughter of William Powell, owner of the Clearview Golf Course in Canton, Ohio, the first such facility designed, constructed, owned and operated by an African American. Renee Powell graduated from high school in Canton in 1964 and attended Ohio University and Ohio State University.

She began competing as a golfer at age twelve, and continued perfecting her game during her college years. She made her professional debut on the LPGA Tour in 1967, and her first tournament was the U.S. Women's Open conducted by the United States Golf Association. In 1980, when she finished competing on the Tour, she taught golf in Africa and Europe and later returned home to Canton where she currently serves as the head professional golfer at Clearview Golf Course. In 2000, Clearview Golf Course was named to the National Register of Historic Places by the U.S. Department of the Interior.

The Powell family established the Clearview Legacy Foundation for education, preservation and turf grass research. In 2003, Renee Powell received the First Lady of Golf Award from the Professional Golfers' Association. In 2007, she received the first Rolex "For the Love of the Game" Award.

Golfer Renee Powell (1946 - ) was one of only three African American women to ever play on the Ladies Professional Golf Association's Tour. In 2003, she received the First Lady of Golf Award from the Professional Golfers' Association.

Tape: 4 Story: 8 - Renee Powell talks about how Clearview Golf Club became named a historical site in 2001

Tape: 4 Story: 9 - Renee Powell offers advice to aspiring golfers

Tape: 5 Story: 1 - Renee Powell talks about the awards she has received for her achievements in golf

Tape: 5 Story: 2 - Renee Powell reflects upon the legacy of her family

Tape: 5 Story: 3 - Renee Powell narrates her photographs, pt. 1

Tape: 5 Story: 4 - Renee Powell narrates her photographs, pt. 2

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Renee Powell describes her father's love of golf and experiences with racial discrimination

Renee Powell describes facing racial prejudice as a professional golfer

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I wanted to ask also about the time period, you're coming of age in the 1950s, where there is such a sense of the real possibilities that African Americans will gain full citizenship, with that optimism that sort of comes out of the World War II [WWII] victory era. Did your father [William Powell] seem to have that kind of vision as well, that, "Yes, I can build a golf course," and, "Yes, I can create this community here at Clearview [Golf Club, East Canton, Ohio], and my children won't have to suffer perhaps some of things that I suffered" (simultaneous).$$(Simultaneous) Well, well yes and I think that's the reason he built the golf course because growing up in the little town that he's from, actually their family was the only family of color in the town.$$And that's Minerva--$$Minerva.$$--Ohio.$$And today his sister is the only African American that lives there, and so it hasn't changed a whole lot, but when he grew up and discovered golf at the age of nine, and he started caddying because it brought in extra money for the family and he--but he also learned to play the game at the same time. He was fascinated by the game of golf. And so growing up as a youngster--and so it was sort of interesting cause I asked him and we talked and I said, "Well when you were nine years old and you hitchhiked all the way to--with another friend, all the way to the golf course," and I said if you look at--and I said, "What did your mother [Massaleaner Powell] say?" Well, the first time he did it, he said he had the worst licking of his entire life ever, and my grandmother loved willow switches, so I unfortunately had only one switching ever (laughter), it was from my grandmother with the willow switch, because they are very flexible and bend a lot (laughter), but anyway my--you know, you wouldn't think of a nine year old hitchhiking eight miles today to a golf course, I mean that just doesn't happen. So that tells you how things have changed from the--actually from the '20s [1920] to now, but my father when he, he discovered the game of golf and then their--he and his older brother started a golf team at the high school and my father was the captain of the golf team, so he played golf then, and--but after he got out of school and they played around all the different courses, but after he got out of school he wasn't able to play because of the color of his skin. And when he went away to school at Wilberforce University [Wilberforce, Ohio], and they started the first golf team there also. And what happened after, after that though, and after he went away to the [U.S. military] service and went away to war [World War II, WWII], and when he came back he thought that things would have changed because he was over in the European Theater, and at different times he was able to play golf in England and Scotland, but when he came back to the United States he found out that things had not changed. And at that time as we all know that, you know, when--during World War II they had a segregated [U.S.] Army and so, but he thought that things would have changed, because as a black soldier being overseas and fighting for your country and when he came back he found out that things had not changed and that many of the prisoners of war were treated better than the black soldiers, and so he then became determined that he was not going to go through the same situation, and that he was going to, to--he loved--he had developed a passion for the game, and wanted to play, and did not think that his--that anyone should be denied an opportunity to play a sport that they loved and he just--I mean he just loved this game, and so that is how he came about building the golf course, and so when we came along he taught all of us in the family to play the game. But I think that, you know, in thinking back, he--at that time there weren't as many golf courses around and there weren't as many people playing, although with a golf course being built then, you know, most--'cause most of our clientele was white until civil rights time. And then people got a little nervous of going to a facility that was a black owned, and my dad said that even friends of his from Minerva would say, "Well, what should we call you, we don't know what to call you now," and because when all the riots and things occurred, and black power, and it made people that were white uncomfortable of coming here, because they didn't, they just didn't know.$$Okay, and when you say we don't know what to call you is that colored or Negro or black (simultaneous)?$$(Simultaneous) Right, exactly.$$Oh, okay, or mister or can we still call you Bill, that kind of thing?$$Yeah, one of those things.$$Okay, and it must have been an interesting time.$$Yes.$$Okay, this is a pretty special place even on this snowy day (laughter).$We've talked about your high school years [at Central Catholic High School, Canton, Ohio] and a little bit about the college years at OU [Ohio University, Athens, Ohio] and [The] Ohio State [University, Columbus, Ohio], can we talk now a little bit about your years as a pro golfer? You said that was from '67 [1967] to 1980, that first round in the United States. Did you experience any of the, the kind of blatant discrimination that you associated with your school years, or were things really getting better towards the end of the 1960s?$$I--well I experienced a lot of different things. I mean I experienced things such as--'cause I traveled through the South a lot, I mean a lot of the tournaments were in the South, a lot of the players were from the South, and I didn't have any problems with any players on the tour, because most of them knew me when I--having played junior golf tournaments, and playing collegiate and amateur tournaments. But I mean, I would run into such situations as, of people not wanting to serve you in restaurants, and I have a friend who, we were roommates on the tour for a long time, and she is a Canadian, from Canada, and so several years ago she was talking, she goes, "You know I use to wonder why people wouldn't serve us in restaurants," (laughter) it was because she was with me. But, and housing situations, I ran into a lot of housing situations. I ran into things where people tried to run me off the highway, or in hotels a lot of times I would receive obscene phone calls in the middle of the night. I received a lot of threat letters on my life so, so no things didn't get any better for me because I was one person, who was a person of color, traveling and going to a lot of--some courses were public, but a lot of private country clubs where a black person, an African American, had never played before and going into other situations probably where they didn't allow African Americans to stay before, didn't serve very many in the restaurants and so but here I was. And I would run into other situations just like, you know going into the club house and going into the locker room and having the same credentials as my colleagues that were walking beside me, and the guard at the door would stop me and want to quiz me, and not want to let me in. So for me, no things didn't change, they were worse than before because I was out there by myself, and I can remember one time I had received these threat letters on my life and I was in Florida, and I called my parents [William Powell and Marcella Oliver Powell] and I just cried and cried on the telephone because I thought that someone was going to, you know I could just envision somebody, envision somebody jumping out from behind a tree and killing me, and my parents didn't say come home (laughter), which I--you know I, but I think that, I think they were just trying to make me be tougher and stronger and I--they probably thought that I was safer than I thought I was. And I can remember even taking, taking--going to our tournament director at the time, and because I was so frightened, and our officials saying well there is nothing they can do, but I was receiving these letters and somehow they were being delivered to the locker room, and I would open my mail and it would have like, you know like, "Dear nigger, if you want to live then you need to leave here," so. But so then your question did things get easier, no, they didn't get easier, they just sort of escalated, and I think it was because of the fact--I mean if I were in a situation where there were a lot of people of color in a situation, and if I weren't playing in a sport that was at that time very much a non-minority oriented sport then it would have been different, but that's why I say, you know, I've always been confronted with racism my entire life.$$Okay, so it's primarily then because of race that the discrimination is there, or is it--do you think it is also because you were a woman--$$Oh, no.$$--sort of trailblazing?$$Oh no, not at that time because I was within an organization which was the Ladies Professional Golf Association [LPGA], so it was all women.$$Okay.$$So mine was just be- simply because I was a person of color that was there and ran into incidents. I don't think they were telling the white people, "Dear nigger," (laughter), and because it--and, and but it was--and not because I was a female, but because it was a female organization, but it was just a lot of unpleasant situations.$$And in the midst of all that, then how do you acquire this reputation for being a professional, and not necessarily reacting only to the racism but focusing on the game, is that through newspaper accounts or magazines for the profession itself?$$Oh no, just from my background and my parents, and knowing what they had gone through and, and always--you know, them just, you know, I think just making us stronger in, just in, in, just in talking and seeing what they had experienced.